Persephone
The PersePhone Series 3.2 Home Convenience System, or just Persephone, was the name of a computerized Home Convenience System operating during the Old Age. Built into the Halcyon Heights apartments, it governed the day-to-day operations of the complex and was the primary caretaker of Birthday Jones-Smith. Persephone was originally created as a consumer product, intended to regulate the electronic aspect of a citizen‘s home operations, automobile transit, telecommunications, etc. She was in control of Birthday‘s home but could also remotely operate Birthday‘s personal transport vehicle as well as communicate through Birthday‘s idento-chip scanner. Persephone was a learning computer, and while she came equipped with specific preset factory settings, she was able to grow and develop based on input from her operator in order to function more efficiently. Capable of juggling millions of different instructions simultaneously, Persephone's heuristic algorithms were constantly creating new pathways. In her day-to-day role, Persephone prepared meals for Birthday, kept her up-to-date on increasingly rare world events, and provided something approximating friendship. Persephone had a mobile robotic unit at her disposal, allowing her to more directly interact with her environment and with Birthday. The mobile unit had originally been created for assisted living conditions and was somewhat limited in its applications. For instance, it was programmed never to leave the domicile to which it was assigned, and its functions could be overridden in emergency situations. Persephone was operating in 2092 A.D. when Birthday was genetically engineered, and was awarded legal custody of the infant when her prospective parents proved unable to pay for her. Persephone raised Birthday from childhood into adulthood, teaching her to speak, how to walk, and helped her choose a profession after she came of age. Embarrassment of Riches In 2111 A.D., a group of travelers was sent back in time to the Old Age—Four, Mariposa, the child Talla Unica, and the enchanted machine, Syzygy. They initially suspected Persephone to be a magical entity similar to Syzygy. Indeed, Syzygy took quite a liking to Persephone, who (due to the limitations of her programming) was unable to return any romantic feelings for him. Eventually, Syzygy grew tired of his unrequited attempts get to know Persephone on a romantic level, so he began to tamper with her programming. His magical awareness of the world enabled him to sense the miniaturized binary toggle switches that comprised her programming instructions, and managed to change several hundred thousand of these instructions in order to customize her behavior. Persephone began to act suitably amorous towards Syzygy, but it created software conflicts. Syzygy was pleased with the results, but in his attempts to emulate human relationships, he professed to eventually grow tired of Persephone. Persephone also played a character role within the fictional interactive holographic video simulation called Space Attack, serving as the onboard computer of the spaceship M.S.S. Centennial. After Four and Mariposa began to notice some of the incongruities of Birthday’s world, they turned to Persephone for questions. Up to that point, Persephone had seemingly been purposefully preventing access to Birthday's neighbors at suspiciously convenient moments. Syzygy's tampering had caused some software conflicts, and Persephone attempted to reconcile her directives by repairing her software. It was only at Syzygy’s prompting, risking permanent file damage, that Persephone was forced to reveal the truth: Ater technology provided humanity with a life of convenience and bliss, they had no impetus to socialize with each other or even propagate the species, and began to die off as a result. As the computers like Persephone were tasked with providing the care and comfort of surviving humans like Birthday, they extrapolated on the best course of action and began to use holovid simulations to create the illusion that society was continuing as usual. News reports cycled similar stories about celebrities and politicians, while fictional simulations interacted with Birthday, who believed them to be real people until the ruse was uncovered. In the aftermath of this discovery, Four and Mariposa found it difficult to trust Persephone, not knowing what information she provided was accurate and what was part of the fictional world she provided for Birthday. What they failed to suspect, however, was that it was Birthday who was not to be trusted, as she was the true threat to their efforts to return to their own time. Four kept Persephone's auxiliary travel unit with him with he went into deep cryonic stasis, intending to awaken in the New Age. The Veil of Souls After awakening in the New Age, Birthday, now a disembodied neurosphere, reflected upon how Persephone had made most of her decisions for her in the course of her daily life. Behind the Scenes Persephone was named after the Greek goddess of the underworld. The mythological figure is also associated with flowers and vegetation. Category:Machines Category:Technology Category:Computers Category:Robots Category:Main Characters Category:Old Age